Week #39: Jun. 19th - 23rd

Dear Families,

Here we are at the end of our final FULL WEEK of grade 3.  Did I just write that?!  I thank you all for being a regular follower and supporting your child’s academic, social, emotional and mental well-being  IN and OUT of the classroom.  

I am deeply proud of all my students for their dedication, efforts, and responsibility with all their classroom endeavours such as daily homework, projects, presentations, etc ...  

As you may have sensed, the workload in grade 3 was extensive and substantial.  I do my best to not only cover our current curriculum expectations, but also to prepare my students well for the next grade level(s).  My hope is that this will be beneficial as your child enters the junior division in the fall. 

Perhaps you may recall at the student-led conferences in November, your child had shared the meaning of T.E.A.M.  This stands SO TRUE ... and we have achieved more as a dream team :-) 

It has been a true pleasure writing these weekly posts as I get to reflect upon all the meaningful learning we're doing and have done as a class family, this brings me immense JOY! 

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' DAY:

In June, we commemorate National Indigenous History Month.  During this month, our class took time to recognize the rich history, heritage, resilience and diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples across Canada.

On Tuesday June 21, we commemorated the heritage, diverse cultures and outstanding achievements of First Nations, Inuit and Métis!  It was a wonderful opportunity for us to continue showing our respect and reconciliation for our Indigenous people.

The students are really interested and intrigued in seeing and hearing all about the activities involved in traditional Indigenous culture and I believe it gave us all more insight and a greater appreciation about all the contributions the Indigenous people of Canada have had and currently have for our country :)

GOOGLE CLASSROOM:

If your child and you have not had the opportunity to check out the resource that I posted on Google Classroom on Wed., please check it out over the weekend.  

It is a wonderful GAME BOARD to learn more about Indigenous People and their contributions to our land!

CHARACTER RECOGNITION:

Today, we celebrated May and June's character traits of the month – Respect & Responsibility!  

As many know, Character Education is very near and dear to my heart because my passion resides in helping children grow not only as students, but into the BEST PEOPLE they can be especially WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING.  

Any opportunity that I have to instill life lessons into my teaching practice, I seize it because when we have upstanding children with a positive moral compass, the world will be a better place!!  

Thank you to Mrs. O, Mrs. Hammond, Mrs. Newman, and Mr. Morin for leading our character assembly with your classes.  It was wonderfully done and your message was clearly felt by everyone :)

I would now like to take this opportunity to congratulate our character recipients from May and June.  

Congratulations to Kaia and Arie for demonstrating RESPECT.

Congratulations to Brynn and Ellis for demonstrating RESPONSIBILITY.

Your peers and teachers admire these qualities in you!!  Keep being the best you can be in your thoughts, words, and actions.  You've represented our class family proudly :-)

SPIRIT DAY:

Thank you to everyone who also showed school spirit TODAY by dressing up in their Canada gear in anticipation of celebrating our country's birthday on July 1st!    

We're proud Canadians, EH ;)

REPORT CARDS:

Students have now received their term 2 report card and as always, I like to reinforce that for me, it is not solely about the ‘marks’ or ‘level’s,’ but an emphasis on celebrating students’ strengths ('what they know') and next steps ('what they don't know YET').  

Speaking of this, you will notice that with your child's report card, there is an accompanying sheet where I had the children think and reflect upon their own strengths and areas to improve upon.  Please go through this with your child :)

This was a meaningful activity as I feel it is important for us to acknowledge what we're doing well so we can continue achieving this and work towards some goals we strive to accomplish :)

I also had the children think about their own growth mindset so you will get to see what their powerful thoughts and words are :)

I am proud to say each of my students this year displayed their personal best and it has reflected in their growing character.  

I truly believe this is what will take our children further in life … always being respectful, KIND, and supportive with others!  

It takes patience, practice, and perseverance, but if we all continue to work towards this, we will lead a happy, healthy, and joyous life.

I know many students in this class have embraced our school boards' 10 character traits to heart, and will continue being not only good students, but tremendous citizens as they move forward to contribute to society.  

As an educator at Nottawa, I will always do my best to be here for your child.  Moving forward, if I can help support in any capacity big or small, please do not hesitate to reach out to me via email.  

I like to say - "Once your child's teacher, always their teacher!"

POETRY CAFE:

I don’t know about you, but I’m still beaming with pride and joy for my student’s outstanding performance at our Poetry Café!  

I received many heart-warming remarks from parents, students, and staff about the wonderful presentation!  It was a true reflection of how brilliant the hearts and minds are of my students!

Thank you families for being part of this heartfelt celebration.  I will always remember this experience fondly as I reflect upon our year together.

Below, I have posted a variety of photos for you to enjoy and relive the magic that was felt at the Cafe.  Thank you to Mr. Roth (my family friend) who captured so many lovely moments :)

THANKFUL SONG:

At the conclusion of our Poetry Cafe, we shared a very upbeat and positive song to remind us all the importance of being THANKFUL, GRATEFUL, and APPRECIATE all that we have in our life.  

I truly believe that by having an attitude of gratitude - your life will be filled with joy!  

Have your child share this song with you and he or she can perform the special parts from it :)

BENNER:

Thank you to Benner and family for providing double chocolate ice cream cups for us to enjoy at the conclusion of our Poetry Cafe!  It was a sweet treat and we appreciate your continued generosity!

Check us out as we coooooled off in our outdoor classroom.  The smiles say it all :-)

DONATION IN LIEU OF A GIFT:

I had sent home a note at the beginning of June, but I want to share a friendly reminder again that as the school year approaches an end, I would like to request something that is important to me.  

Please know, it is coming from a good place and if you have already gotten or made me a teacher gift, I will always receive it with open arms and heart.  

If you were or are planning on providing me with a gift, I ask in lieu of a teacher gift this school year, please consider donating to one of the organizations below that is near and dear to my heart: 

- Water First, My Friends House, Home Horizon, Sick Kids, Team Trees, Me to We, or Make a Wish -

I have shared with my students, the greatest teaching gift I have received is having your child in my class.  It has been a remarkable year and I look forward to watching your child continue to soar and grow throughout their years at Nottawa!!  Gooooo Nighthawks :)

PLAY DAY:

I'm confident your child came home on Tuesday raving about our Play Day experience, it was magnificent!!  

Some of the activities we participated in were the following:  capture the flag, fun zone, ball hockey, target practice, dragon tails, obstacle course, parachute games, man hunt, soccer baseball, over/under, and everybody is it tag!

Please ask your child which station was their favourite :)  Many enjoyed the Drip, Drip, DROP!!!  

All the photos below will surely show you just how much fun we had :-)  

MRS. GARVAN:

A heartfelt thank you goes out to Mrs. Garvan and the intermediate students who organized all the engaging games.  There was not a moment that we didn't have a smile on our faces!  Thank you, thank you!!

Mme Wylie (left) & Mrs. Garvan (right)

MATH:

This week, we enjoyed playing a probability game called "Off to the Races."  

The objective of the game is to roll a sum and move counters on a game board.  There is strategy to it as students need to recognize when rolling 2 dice which combinations have a higher probability, the least, and impossible outcome.  Discuss this with your child :)

LIBRARY BOOKS:

An important message from Mrs. Johnson, please ensure your child(ren)'s outstanding library books are returned by next week.  

She is really flexible with the kids about signing out new books even when old ones aren't returned, but as the summer approaches, it's imperative books are returned.

Thank you so much for your support and understanding in this!  

MRS. BEATTIE DAY:

If you haven't heard already, well now you'll know!  Mrs. Beattie is retiring to spend more time with her beloved family.  Her eldest son Evan had a baby girl and she's so happy to be a Grammie :-)  This is a wonderful and blessed transition for her!

In honour of Mrs. Beattie and to celebrate her contributions to Nottawa, please have your child dress up in black and white on Wed. Jun. 28th, her favourite colour!  We will be hosting a farewell assembly for her on this day during period 4.

MOLLY:

Molly wanted to share with the class about an injured turtle by the road that she and her Dad saw.  They immediately stopped by to help it and get to the turtle sanctuary hospital.  It’s been transferred from Orillia to Peterborough for surgery/repairs and when it’s ready to be returned to the wild Molly will likely be there to release it. It’s a Blandings turtle which is endangered I believe.

I want to thank Molly and her Dad personally for showing and sharing their compassion and care for our wildlife.  We are blessed to have empathetic people like you!!

MINDFULNESS:

I've shared on many occasions with my class, the importance of demonstrating our best selves in our thoughts, words, and ACTIONS.  

For it is how we think, act, and feel that will most impact not only us, but also those around us.  We must always put forth our personal best and lead with integrity. 

I know many students in this class have taken this character trait on, and will continue being not only good students, but tremendous citizens as they move forward to contribute to society.  I will always be here for your child, and if I can help in any way big or small, please be in touch!  I truly love and adore them!

GROWTH MINDSET:

Thank you Libby for this week's mindset message!  You're absolutely right :-)  The key to success is hard work and perseverance.  

"Never cut corners to lead to success!"  - Libby

Respectfully Yours,

Ms. Gill